Domen Gracej was born on October 18, 1990, in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia. He is the recipient of numerous awards at national and international competitions. He completed his primary and secondary music education under the mentorship of Professor Damjan Damjanovič. In 2014, he graduated with distinction from the postgraduate program at the Academy of Music in…
Žiga Petrič is a Slovenian percussionist, educator, composer, and producer, active as an orchestral and chamber musician, and a dedicated mentor to young percussionists. He began his musical education at the Fran Korun Koželjski Music School in Velenje under Prof. Janez Marin and continued at the Velenje Arts High School with Prof. Tomaž Lojen, graduating in 2013. That same year, he began his percussion studies at the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana, under the mentorship of the esteemed Prof. Boris Šurbek, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2016. He completed his master’s degree in 2019 with the highest honors (summa cum laude) under Prof. Simon Klavžar. He further refined his skills at Örebro University in Sweden, studying with professors Daniel Berg, Anders Åstrand, and Fredrik Duvling, and participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned percussionists such as Katarzyna Myćka, Ney Rosauro, Dave Samuels, John Pennington, Haruka Fuji, Lars Fhager, Claudio and Francesca Santangelo, among others.
He has performed with various chamber ensembles both in Slovenia and internationally, appearing at festivals, concert tours, and competitions. As co-founder of the percussion duo Panduo with Filip Korošec, he received the Marimba One Excellency Award at the IPCL International Competition in Luxembourg (2018). He has also performed with leading orchestras, including the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Haydn Philharmonie, the Slovene Military Orchestra, and others.
He teaches at the Trebnje Music School and the Franca Šturma Music School in Ljubljana. His students consistently achieve positive results at national and international competitions, supported in part by his compositional work, which is closely intertwined with his pedagogical approach. To date, he has written numerous works that are regularly performed by students at concerts, festivals, and competitions.
Nežka Prosenjak is a Slovenian percussionist based in Switzerland, specializing in marimba and performing as a soloist, orchestral musician, and ensemble collaborator. She studied at the Maribor Conservatory of Music & Ballet before continuing her education at the University of Music & Performing Arts Graz and the University of the Arts Bern, focusing on contemporary, orchestral, and solo performance. She has won numerous international awards, including 1st prizes at the Italian Percussive Arts Society Competition (2017) and Malletlab (2018), and was selected for the prestigious TROMP International Percussion Competition (2022). Currently, she is a member of the Swiss Orchestra and collaborates with ensembles like Collegium Novum Zürich and the Bern Symphony Orchestra while also developing new projects centered around marimba performance. In addition to her artistic work, she is an educator and a Marimba One Premier Artist.
Vanessa Porter is one of the most versatile percussionists internationally and is in demand for various projects, concert formats and programmes. As a soloist she combines current works with improvisation, electronics and performing arts and impresses with her focused creation of diverse sound spaces.
In 22/23 she will perform with her current program ‘folie à deux’ as a soloist of ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) in the most renowned, European concert halls, such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Barbican Centre London, Philharmonie Paris, L’Auditori Barcelona, and many more.
She collaborates with renowned composers such as Georges Aperghis (WP Kölner Philharmonie 2020), Jennifer Walshe (WP Funkhaus Köln 2021), Elnaz Seyedi (WP Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2022), Adriana Hölszky (WP ZKM Karlsruhe 2016), Marta Gentilucci (ECLAT Festival 2021), Simon Steen-Andersen (Festival Musica Strasbourg 2022), Benjamin Scheuer (WP AdW Mainz 2021), Alva Noto (WP LAB Frankfurt 2020), Zeynep Gedizlioglu, and many more.
In addition to engagements with international ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, Ascolta Ensemble and Les Percussions de Strasbourg, she performs as a soloist and chamber musician at Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, ECLAT Festival Neue Musik Stuttgart, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Radialsystem Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Funkhaus Köln, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Dortmund, IPEW Croatia, Festival Internacional de Percusión Tenerife, Schlossmediale Werdenberg, Origen Festival Cultural Riom.
Vanessa Porter is 1st prize winner of the August-Everding Music Competition Munich, the International Percussion Competition Luxembourg, the Music Creative Award Lindau and the PercussiveArt Contest Italy, received the Deutschlandstipendium and was a scholarship holder of the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg and the Deutscher Musikwettbwerb.
Through her close collaboration with the Goethe Institute, she regularly travels to South and Central America and gives workshops and concerts; most recently, she was invited on a South American tour to Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Guatemala with the Porter Percussion Duo. Due to her many years of experience in the field of education, she collaborates with various universities and academies, such as the International Summer Academy of Music, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart and has held masterclasses as part of the WorldPercussionGroup at the Sibelius Academy Helsinki and the University of Birmingham.
After studying at the Royal Collage of Music in London (with David Hockings) and the Musikhochschule in Lübeck (with Johannes Fischer), Vanessa Porter completed her master’s degree at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart (with Marta Klimasara, Klaus Dreher and Jürgen Spitschka) with top marks.
The Andalusian-born saxophonist is a laureate of prestigious international competitions, including the Adolphe Sax and SaxoVoce competitions in Paris. She earned her Konzertexamen with distinction at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln under Daniel Gauthier and reached the semifinals of the International Adolphe Sax Competition in Dinant. At 28, she was appointed as a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln while maintaining an active performing career. Her repertoire spans contemporary and classical music, and she has collaborated with renowned conductors and chamber ensembles. As a soprano saxophonist of the Eternum Saxophone Quartet, she passionately explores the world of chamber music.
Clarinetist David Gregorc began his musical journey in 2003 at the Fran Korun Koželjski Music School in Velenje under the guidance of Prof. Matjaž Emeršič. In 2010, he continued his studies at the Velenje Art Gymnasium. After completing his secondary education, he enrolled at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he studied under Prof. Jože Kotar and Assistant Jurij Hladnik. He graduated and obtained his master’s degree with honors and received a special summa cum laude distinction. He was also awarded the Prešeren Prize of the Academy of Music.
As a soloist and member of a clarinet quartet, he won three silver and two gold plaques (2012 and 2015 – 1st prize) at the national TEMSIG competitions. At the international EMONA competitions, he received a silver and two gold plaques (2018 – 2nd prize). With the clarinet quartet, he won a gold plaque and 1st prize at the international Carlino competition in Italy at the end of 2017. In early 2018, after winning an audition, he became a scholarship recipient of the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe.
He has attended masterclasses with world-renowned clarinetists, including Andrew Marriner, Robert Spring, Michel Lethiec, and Harri Mäki. In 2011, he made his solo debut with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and later performed as a soloist with them twice more. He also occasionally collaborates with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2018, he has been a member of the orchestra of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana. Between 2020 and 2024, he worked as an assistant at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. Since 2021, he has been teaching at the Fran Korun Koželjski Music School in Velenje and the Velenje Art Gymnasium.
Hornist Mihajlo Bulajić began his musical journey at the age of ten in the class of Prof. Zoran Mrdjenović, completing his primary and secondary music education at the Vojislav Vučković Music School in Belgrade. He continued his studies at the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade under Prof. Milan Radić, graduating with honors and receiving…
Tobija Hrastnik was born in 1997 as the sixth child in a family of nine. He grew up in a small village near Laško, where he began playing the trumpet at the Music School Laško-Radeče under the guidance of Professor Marko Razboršek.
He continued his musical education in Celje with Professor Miran Majcen, graduating from high school there. He then pursued his studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he graduated under Professor Jure Gradišnik. His education was further enriched by two years of Master’s studies in Hannover, Germany, under Professor Jeroen Berwaerts.
Throughout his secondary school years, Tobija regularly participated in competitions, earning several gold plaques and awards. From 2017 to 2019, he was a regular member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO). In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Yamaha Prize Scholarship.
After completing his studies, Tobija was employed for a year as a trumpet player in the Bundespolizei Orchestra in Hannover, Germany. He is currently serving as the solo trumpet player in the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.
Sašo Vollmaier is a Slovenian composer, pianist, performer and pedagogue. He works with the Panteatre (Paris) and the Roy Hart International Art Centre, the Atelier of Performing Arts in Düsseldorf, and since 2014 he has been teaching at the Academy of Arts in Arezzo, Italy. In recent years, he has also intensified his own solo projects, among the most notable of which are “Vollmaier: Kind of Laibach”, “Vollmaier:Nietzsche” and “Vollmaier:Ligeti (How to Explain Ligeti to a Dead Audience)”.
He seeks his expression in darker sonic spaces, between the classical and improvisational worlds. This sonic quality has been recognised by Yamaha, which has awarded him the title of Yamaha artist (April 2023). In recent years he has been active in the field of performance and theatre, creating music for dance and theatre performances. His passion for the human voice has led him to the “Centre Artistique International Roy Hart (Malérargues, France) and the Accademia dell’Arte (Arezzo, Italy).
Filip Orlović is a promising young musician, passionately engaged as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. He completed his bachelor studies in Novi Sad in 2017 under the guidance of professors Gordan Tudor and Bunford Gabor. Subsequently, in 2019, he earned the title of Master of Arts at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad (Serbia) under the guidance of Prof. Nikola Fabijanić. Filip also successfully completed his master’s studies at the Academy of Music and Dance in Cologne (Germany), under the mentorship of Prof. Daniel Gauthier. Throughout his career, Filip has reached significant milestones. In 2013, he was invited as a guest soloist for the “Music for Peace” program, performing chamber and solo pieces with piano and orchestras in Moscow and Tambov (Russia). In between he has performed with different ensembles and orchestras, including a notable solo performance with the Symphony Orchestra of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) at the Kolarac Hall in Belgrade in 2024. As a member of the saxophone quartet “Eternum,” Filip completed his master’s studies in chamber music in 2022 under the guidance of professors Georg Klütsch and Han-An Liu. The quartet recorded their debut CD titled “Voyages” in the same year, released by the label “Genuin” from Leipzig, Germany. Filip has won numerous awards in international competitions and has performed in many prestigious orchestras and festivals both nationally and internationally. Recently, in 2024, he was appointed as professor of saxophone at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia.